ABSTRACT
Whites and people of color in the United States are separated by a vast “perception gap”—whites feel that racism ended in the 1960s and see people of color as complaining or overreacting, while people of color see continued racial discrimination (Steinhorn and Diggs-Brown 2000). This perception gap means that substantial white support for antiracist policies is lacking. Because whites are a majority in numbers and power in this nation, the “conversion” of whites to antiracism is a crucial part of the larger political struggle for human rights. Yet we seldom hear about whites who have taken the step to antiracism. This step is a substantial one, far from simply being nonracist. Joe Barndt writes: “Nonracists try to deny that the prison exists. Antiracists work for the prison’s eventual destruction” (1991:65). Whereas nonracists merely profess tolerant attitudes and think everyone should be treated equally, antiracists not only acknowledge that not everyone is treated equally but work “daily [and] vigilantly” (hooks 1995:158) to combat this inequality.
